European Parliament calls on EU to sanction Plahotniuc and Șor for trying to destabilise Moldova
The European Parliament (EP) voted on Wednesday 19 April on a resolution to sanction fugitive oligarchs Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Șor on the grounds that they are trying to destabilise the Republic of Moldova jointly with Russia. The announcement was made by MEP Vlad Gheorghe, who is also the author of the resolution.
The EP therefore "calls on the European Union (EU) and its Member States to extend the scope of the EU's global human rights sanctions regime to include sanctioning acts of corruption that undermine a country's security, stability, constitutional order and democratic institutions," the resolution reads.
The resolution also calls on the EU and its Member States to immediately introduce sanctions against those who seek to destabilise the Republic of Moldova, undermine its security, stability and constitutional order or corrupt its political and economic institutions.
The European legislator also "calls on the EU, in this context, to sanction personally the fugitive oligarchs Ilan Șor and Vladimir Plahotniuc and, where appropriate, to sanction their political enterprises and organisations; calls on the respective host states and territories to extradite Ilan Șor and Vladimir Plahotniuc so that they can be tried in the Republic of Moldova," the resolution reads.
"A great, great victory for the Republic of Moldova has passed. The European Parliament voted by a super majority for the Republic of Moldova and against Putin. It's a signal to the Republic of Moldova that it is about to join the European Union and a signal to Putin that he is not getting away with what he is afraid of. We sanction his oligarchs in the Republic of Moldova (...) We support and help the Republic of Moldova to be in the European Union", said Vlad Gheorghe after the vote on the resolution.
In December 2022, the British authorities introduced sanctions against Vlad Plahotniuc and Ilan Șor, who are wanted internationally and accused in the "Theft of the Billion" case. Previously, the two Moldovan oligarchs were also included on the list of US sanctions along with other individuals and entities involved in systemic corruption and electoral processes in Moldova in favour of Moscow.
